On December 30, 2025, news broke that cross-border payments are receiving a major policy boost, and industry leader Lianlian Digital (2598.HK), which has taken an early lead, is expected to benefit. Recently, eight departments, including the People’s Bank of China, jointly issued the “Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor,” proposing to expand the cross-border use of RMB. The Opinions also call for strengthening bilateral monetary cooperation with Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries to create conditions for the cross-border use of RMB. Furthermore, the Opinions propose exploring international cooperation in digital finance, supporting provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) along the corridor to participate in multilateral central bank digital currency bridge projects, and promoting the use of central bank digital currencies in cross-border payments with countries such as Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. In addition, the People’s Bank of China has issued an action plan for digital RMB, and the new generation of digital RMB measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism, and ecosystem will be officially launched and implemented on January 1, 2026.
Lianlian Digital (2598.HK), as a leader in China’s digital payment solutions market and an enabler of global trade digitalization, is expected to fully benefit from the aforementioned policy advantages. Lianlian Digital has always listed the circulation service of digital RMB as a key development strategy for the company, and has invested special resources in in-depth research for this purpose. As early as 2021, Lianlian Digital’s subsidiary, Lianlian Payment, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Digital RMB Research Institute to jointly promote the application of digital RMB in domestic and cross-border payment scenarios, successfully connected to the digital RMB interconnection platform, and conducted pilot tests in multiple scenarios such as transportation, retail, and public services in pilot areas such as Qingdao. Lianlian Digital has previously signed a cooperation agreement with the Bank of China. Both parties will leverage their respective business characteristics and resource advantages to jointly explore the application and innovation of the digital yuan within their respective ecosystems, actively promoting its implementation in pilot areas and related scenarios such as trade and services. This proactive strategy has given Lianlian Digital a certain first-mover advantage in the digital yuan field. With the continuous advancement of cross-border payment policies, the expansion of RMB cross-border use, and the exploration of international cooperation in digital finance, new development opportunities will be brought to the cross-border payment market. Lianlian Digital, with its deep accumulation in the digital payment field and its early deployment of the digital yuan, is expected to gain greater development space in this market. Its pilot testing experience in multiple scenarios will also help it better adapt to market demands and provide users with more convenient and efficient payment services. In the future, Lianlian Digital may further strengthen cooperation with various parties, continuously expand the application scenarios of the digital yuan, and enhance its competitiveness in the cross-border payment market. At the same time, with the official launch and implementation of the new generation of digital yuan’s measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism, and ecosystem, Lianlian Digital will also face new challenges and opportunities, requiring continuous innovation and optimization of its business model to adapt to market changes.
